Unlikely Hero
by Keitei
Summary: Set two years after the events of Pokémon Black and White 2. Brendan has long given up his dream of becoming a Pokémon Champion, ever since he fell victim to an accident that paralysed both of his arms. When news reaches him that his idol and role model - Cynthia of the Sinnoh Elite 4 - is on vacation in Unova, he sets off on an adventure much bigger than he'd ever anticipated.
1. Resigned to This Life

_Bright beams of light suddenly shine in my face, and I squint against their powerful glow. I turn to my perfect team - my companions, my family - and my heart soars to see their proud, confident, and weary faces smile back at me._

_"Alright, team!" I grin at them encouragingly. "This is the big finale! One last stop until the hall of fame! You guys have been absolutely amazing - and I know Caitlyn packed a pretty powerful punch, but still we pulled through! I am so proud of you guys!"_

_My pokémon party whooped and cheered in their different cries. Pansage gave me a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up, Audino waved her ears, Mienshao adopted his favourite tai-fu mode, Emolga jumped into the air and swooped around Drifloon, and Oshaa my Samurott roared with determination._

_"Hello there, Challenger! What's taking you so long?" A big booming voice suddenly calls out behind me. I turn around, and see the silhouette of the reigning Champion standing against the floodlights._

_I quickly rummage in my bag, and my pokémon gather around eagerly as I whip out Potions, Full Restores, Leppa berries and Elixirs. I gently tug some stray leaves from Pansage's head, and give one to each of my pokémon. Finally, I turn towards the Champion._

_"About time!" She calls out. "Well done for getting this far! I sense your strong bond with your pokémon. Now give me a battle that you can be proud of!"_

_Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I climb the remaining steps towards the platform. The lights get brighter, and I can hear the cheers and whistles of the crowds below. A chant starts up: "Bren-dan! Bren-dan! Bren-dan!" and I vaguely wonder how these people could've known my name, but before I knew it, I'd reached the platform, ready to behold the Champion-_

I blearily open my eyes, and let the waves of crushing disappointment wash over me as I stare at my bedroom ceiling. A poster of Cynthia, the reigning Champion of the Elite Four in the Sinnoh region, and her pokémon, Spiritomb, stare back at me.

The cheers and applause came from the Nimbasa fashion show, playing live through the TV downstairs. The chanting of the crowd was my mother, yelling my name up the stairs.

"Brendan! You've got visitors. I'm sending up Arcanine and Audino to help you."

"Okay," I reply, wearily, as the lolloping thud of Arcanine coming up the stairs becomes louder. He pauses before entering my room, pushing the door open carefully with his nose.

"Good morning, Arcanine," I say, and his mouth hangs open in a slobbery grin. Audino sits on his head, barely noticeable as a pink and cream blob amongst Arcanine's mane. She chirps at me, and hops off onto my bed.

"Good morning to you too, Audino," I say, and she chirps happily in reply.

Arcanine can barely fit in my room. Of course, when we were younger and he was a Growlithe, he fit in perfectly - until one day, Growlithe discovered the box of pretty rocks that I'd received as a get-well present, from the kind professor who lived across from us. I kept them on my desk, but one day he hopped up and knocked the box over, and voila - Growlithe played with the Fire Stone, and Growlithe evolved. I sure had a shock when I went up to my room next.

Arcanine knows to be careful in my room. I don't have anything too fragile lying about, or anything of much interest for that matter - not after my accident - but as Audino hops about preparing my clothes, Arcanine curls up carefully in the middle of the carpet, tucking in his paws and purring like some huge, extremely hairy, fire-breathing kitty-cat.

My room consists of my desk - scattered across it are a few papers, potions, pokéballs and stones. My old bed hugs the far wall. My favourite thing about my room though, is all the posters and maps of different things within the Sinnoh region. Not an inch of my bedroom wall can be seen, due to being covered by so much paper.

I want to visit Sinnoh when I'm older. I love reading about it - Solaceon Town, Mount Coronet, Snowpoint City; and of course, the Elite Four and the gym leaders. The Sinnoh League's Champion, Cynthia, is someone I look up to; as well as Electric-type user Volkner. Of course, I'd need a helper to get to Sinnoh, but what better helpers are there than our pokémon?

Audino chirps. I sigh; pushing my legs out of bed and shoving my imagination to one side. I lean forward as Audino pulls my shirt over my head, and pats my new pants, her way of telling me to stand up.

Some find it odd that it's a pokémon who helps me get dressed in the morning, but after ten or so years, I've gotten used to it. Audino is now my full-time carer, and without her I wouldn't be able to do anything.

As Audino wraps my hands in supportive bandages, I realise that in a few months, the anniversary of my accident would come around.

I sigh again, and Audino pats my face with a pink trotter, telling me to cheer up. It's nearly been ten years - ten years that my arms have been paralysed, destroying every hope and every dream I've ever had of becoming a full-fledged Pokémon Trainer.

Anyway, enough of thinking about that. It was about time I went to see who my visitor was.


	2. Libby

"_And yet another stunning outfit from Nimbasa's very own Elesa!_" the TV blared on.

I slip down the stairs, Arcanine and Audino following behind, and head for the kitchen. As I turn the corner, I hold back the groan that nearly escaped my lips.

"Ah, he's finally up! Good morning Brendan!" Mom smiles at me.

"Hey Mom." I turn to our visitor. "Good morning Mrs Linda. Hello, Patty."

Linda smiles thinly and nods. In my head, I refer to her as 'Libby's mom' more often than 'Mrs Linda.' Her Watchog, Patty, narrows his eyes and turns his head away from me. I never saw the appeal in keeping Watchogs. I imagine they'd be good in battles, but they look so odd - like a ferret pokémon stretched out and made to stand on its back legs, with a face that resembled a cross between a Snubull and Bidoof.

Libby is my annoying childhood 'friend'; although ever since the accident I haven't seen much of her. She lives on the other side of the village, and for a few weeks, she kept popping around, bringing berries and poffins for me and my pokémon. But then, it was almost as if she grew tired of me. I wasn't as fun to play with; compared to Bianca, Cheren and Hugh.

At least they have hands that can move.

I watch them from my bedroom window sometimes, chatting away about who-knows-what. Libby always seems to be annoying as usual.

Not to say that I didn't have any visitors - Touko and Touga used to come over a lot before they embarked on their grand journeys, and occasionally trainers Rosa and Nate stop by when they visit Professor Juniper.

"Linda has a little favour to ask," Mom says. "I'd run it through myself, but I've just started preparing lunch."

Likely story. Mom just wants me out of the house.

"Oh Brendan," Libby's mom sighs. "I'm really sorry for having to get you up, but it's my Libby - she's gone off down Route 1, saying she has somewhere to be in Accumula Town. She left the house and completely forgot to take her map with her." She holds out a piece of paper, and I can tell what's coming next. "Could you please take this to her for me? I would myself, but I have no pokémon to take me; save old Watchog here, and he's getting on a bit."

"Sure thing, Mrs Linda." Route 1 was no problem. For a moment I was worried I'd have to run to Striaton, as Libby had had an eternal crush on one of the gym leader triplets for as long as I could remember. She had run away to further places before, though.

"Arcanine," I call, and Arcanine steps forward and takes the map from Libby's mom, who flushed a little - probably having forgotten that I couldn't actually retrieve the map from her hand myself.

"Be back soon, Brendan," Mom tells me, as I walk out the door with Arcanine and Audino.

"Alright, Mom. It'll be a sprint, I'll be back in no time."

"Thank you, Brendan!" Libby's mom calls after me.

I breathe in the crisp, clear air of Nuvema Town. Audino hops into Arcanine's mane, ready for the trip. I glance across at Professor Juniper's lab. Through the window, I can see her and Bianca read something on a computer screen. They look up at me, and smile and wave.

I return their smiles, before leaping at Arcanine and swinging myself onto his back. Audino tugs at my shirt to make sure I'm on safely, and I lean forward into Arcanine's mane.

"Alright, Arcanine. Let's head for Route 1!"

It was refreshing to feel the wind blow through my hair, as Arcanine broke into a run, map in-mouth. Audino squealed happily, smiling in the way that only pokémon can.

Arcanine charged through the small patches of tall grass, Patrat scuttling out of his way, squeaking angrily. The autumn leaves were just starting to fall, setting a pretty, warm scene around us. We rode past the fishermen at the Route 17 waterfront, who turned to wave and smile.

It was as we were coming closer to Accumula Town, that I saw a scuffle up ahead.

"Whoa, slow down buddy," I said, into Arcanine's mane. "I think we've found Libby."

I couldn't make much sense of the scene in front of me. Libby was alone, with a pokémon that looked like a Purrloin, and was making 'shooing' gestures towards the pokémon. I could only see the side of her head, her short red hair hiding her face, but could hear very well what she was saying.

"Go, pokémon! Go back!"

Arcanine, Audino and I stood only a few meters away, so we reacted immediately when the Purrloin spat at Libby and took a long, deliberate step backwards - ready to strike.

"_Purrrrloin... PurrrrLOIN_!" It hissed at Libby, and Libby squealed, withdrawing quickly, but the Purrloin had already unsheathed its claws.

I didn't stop to think why Libby, a professional pokémon trainer, wasn't calling out her pokémon to help her, or why she hadn't thrown a pokéball already. The Purrloin didn't look all that strong, although it could still leave Libby in a mess of scratches, and I'd decided it wasn't worth getting Arcanine or Audino involved.

Instead, I swung my legs off Arcanine and jumped to the ground. "Libby, get away!" I yelled, as I ran over to where she'd dropped her trainer bag. I kicked it over, and an array of different-coloured pokéballs fell out.

In one swift move, I picked out an Ultra Ball with the toe of my shoe, and kicked it as hard as I could, aiming for inbetween the Purrloin's eyes - and then the strangest thing happened.

The pokéball bounced right back at me.

It had been a perfect shot. I stared at it, lying on the ground, and then at Libby, and then at the Purrloin - who froze, hissed at me, and then darted away into the long grass.

"... That looked a lot like Mrs Tasuka's Purrloin." I commented. I walked over to where Libby sat, a little surprised, and offered her a limp arm to help her up. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, then took my elbow and hauled herself up.

"Wow, Brendan," she said, a little awkwardly. "I didn't expect Mom to send you out here. Sorry about that." She looked away awkwardly for a moment. "I didn't know you used pokéballs too."

"Yes, well, believe it or not, I can actually still use pokéballs," I replied sarcastically, before turning around and heading back over to Arcanine and Audino.


	3. The Return

3

"Your Mom wanted you to have this before you ran off, but it looks like you found your way here without it," I say, indicating with my head to Arcanine.

"Oh, Mom," Libby laughed in her silly, high-pitched voice. I could feel myself getting annoyed already.

She walked up to Arcanine, and tried to conceal her disgust as she retrieved the soggy Region Map from his mouth. "Thank you Arcanine," she says, with a fake smile.

I'd finally had enough of her. She was worst than a sister - not that I had any sisters. "I'm off now. Your mom is waiting for you back in Nuvema, so you should hurry up with whatever you're doing."

Arcanine crouched down, so I could swing myself onto his back easier. Libby looked slightly embarrassed.

"Um... Thank you, Brendan!" She calls after me.

"Yep," I say, waiting for Audino to arrange herself comfortably, before setting off at a brisk walk.

We'd taken no more than a few steps, when Libby called out again. "Wait, Brendan! Wait up please!"

"What is it now?" I said, irritably, leaning into Arcanine as he turned around.

"Ah, well, I, um," she says, not meeting my eyes, twirling a lock of hair around one finger. "I, um..." She suddenly claps her hands together and squeezes her eyes closed. "Forgive me for asking, Brendan, but... I need someone to come with me to Accumula Town!"

"Eh?" I exchange a confused glance with Audino. "But Accumula Town is just through those trees. Can't you go yourself?"

She glances around furtively. "The truth is... I'm nervous!"

"About what?!"

"And my pokémon aren't with me any more, so I just need your help until I catch some more!"

I shake my head. "You're acting strange. And besides..." I can't look her in the eyes. "Why should I help you?"

"Because!" She doesn't notice anything odd about the question - it was almost like she was expecting it. "If you help me, I know where you can find Cynthia!"

That caught my attention. "Cynthia?" I echo. "Cynthia's in the Unova region?"

Libby nods, a smirk on her face. "Yep. She's on vacation in Undella Town. But, oh wait..." She folds her arms and purses her lips. "Your mom would never let you go. And the only pokémon you have are Arcanine and Audino."

Audino chirps indignantly. I couldn't believe my ears. My role model, my hero was directly north - closer than ever before - and I couldn't even see her.

Unless Libby helped me.

She continued. "I know how much you want to meet Cynthia, and see the Sinnoh region. If you'd like, I wouldn't mind escorting you up there - your mom won't even know. But you need to help me out here, right now; or else it's not happening."

I glance past Libby, over the heads of the trees behind her, at the mountains in the horizon. Even with a pokémon, they'd be impossible to traverse. A flying pokémon would probably make it, but such a dare scared me. What if I fell off...?

I groan out loud over the inward struggle. I didn't want to give this girl, who had the nerve to call herself a pokémon trainer, the satisfaction of having manipulated my will.

But I had no choice.

"Fine," I say, reluctantly, and Audino and Arcanine turn their heads at me in confusion. I smile at them. "Don't worry, guys. We'll be back home with Mom soon enough. We're just taking a little detour."

Libby pumps her fist. "Oh yes! Follow me!" And she skips through the trees, into Accumula Town.

"So, what exactly are you wanting to see so badly?" I ask. Arcanine trots alongside her with ease.

"Oh, just a meet up," she says. We break through the trees, and I immediately spot the pokémon center on the right. I'll have to stock up on Potions and Restores, and maybe use Libby's gym leader pass to buy some Revives.

On the left lay the town green. A couple of benches sat in the grass, and on the right side a small group had gathered. There seemed to be some sort of commotion. A guy with ginger hair stood on the bench, waving his arms about.

Libby skipped towards the group happily, without another word to me, and I wonder if she'll stick to what she said earlier. Libby or not, I was making my way to Undella as soon as possible. I needed to have a look at that Region Map, but from what I could remember of my brief geography lessons with Mom, I would have to make it to the Skyarrow Bridge, somehow navigate Castelia City, then head North to Nimbasa. Anything could happen along the way.

The guy on the bench was talking really loudly and enthusiastically. I nudged Arcanine forward, and on closer inspection, noticed the guy's clothes. He wore a grey jumpsuit with a black sleeveless jacket, black gloves, and a black cap with a white cross on it. Something about this attire triggered a random memory - of a conversation I'd had with Touko and Touga, a few years ago.

"Oh no..." I muttered. Arcanine shifted uncomfortably. "Not these guys again."


End file.
